Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) Stock Position Lowered by Voya Investment Management LLC

Voya Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ - Free Report) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,194,140 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 182,617 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 1.06% of Lazard worth $61,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Lazard by 249.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 251,571 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,952,000 after purchasing an additional 179,511 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Lazard by 306.6% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 50,000 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,593,000 after buying an additional 37,704 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Lazard by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 95,707 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,927,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in Lazard by 119.5% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,028 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Lazard by 101.6% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,892 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 2,970 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lazard

In related news, CEO Evan L. Russo sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total transaction of $1,383,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 163,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,041,943.36. The trade was a 13.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Richard Orszag sold 64,539 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.56, for a total value of $2,940,396.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 170,285 shares in the company, valued at $7,758,184.60. The trade was a 27.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 189,078 shares of company stock worth $9,120,541 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.86% of the company's stock.

Lazard Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE LAZ traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $39.20. 926,130 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 951,306. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.73. Lazard, Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.97 and a 1-year high of $61.14. The company has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The asset manager reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.27. Lazard had a return on equity of 44.58% and a net margin of 8.98%. The business had revenue of $669.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $698.39 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lazard, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. Lazard's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on LAZ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Lazard from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Lazard from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut Lazard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wolfe Research cut Lazard from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.83.

Lazard Company Profile

Lazard, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. It operates in two segments, Financial Advisory and Asset Management. The Financial Advisory segment offers financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, shareholder, sovereign, geopolitical advisory, and other strategic advisory services, as well as restructuring and liability management, and capital raising and placement services.